As of today, I have been working as a software testing engineer for more than five years. Recently, I have some ideas about software testing in my work and life, and I would like to share them with you in the form of text.
I am very curious, through what channels do you know about the software testing industry, and what are the reasons for you to choose to enter the software testing industry. As far as I am concerned, I once told my story in my post, and I will simply repeat it here. When I was about to graduate from university, I chose to go to a training institution to learn java development for four and a half months. Frankly speaking Did not study well. When I was studying, I heard the teacher briefly talk about software testing, and the evaluation was like most of them, which made people feel that software testing was very low-level. Later, I looked for a job and found several companies, but none of them were successful in applying for Java development. The training institution was responsible for recommending teachers for employment. Let us try software testing. In fact, when I first asked me to interview for the position of software testing, I refused. , I can't say that if you let me try, I will try it. . . . . . Anyway, the final outcome is like this, I successfully became a software tester (can not be called an engineer at this time).
I believe that everyone’s experience is very similar to mine. They all know about the software testing industry through other people’s mouths or the Internet, and their first impression of it is the lowest, low-end, and simple position in the IT industry. The reasons for choosing such an industry are also very simple: either you can’t do development like me, and you still want to work in the IT industry, or you want to enter the IT industry, because in the eyes of most people, the IT industry is a job with good pay and good salary. Such an industry with a good environment and high quality at the same time.
When you really enter the software testing industry, what will you face? First and most directly, what you have to face is that the salary in the company cannot be said to be the lowest, but it is basically the same. It does not mean that the salary is not much, but you need to pay a lot to get a high salary. After that, you will face contempt from many other positions. These discriminations may come from R&D engineers and your leaders. The reason is very simple. First, everyone has the same understanding of software testing as you, and feels inferior. Second: You do have poor technical capabilities, and you cannot create direct economic value. Third: You chose to do software testing, giving these people a direct feeling that you are a poor person. Finally, you will find that you have done software testing, developers will complain about software testing, leaders will complain about software testing, your colleagues will complain about software testing, and even you will complain.
On the 51testing forum, I have seen such posts, "XXXX is old, do you want to change careers?" or "Beginners learn software testing, ask for information", etc. One of the features of "change career posts" is that the content On the Internet, the poster will first talk about his career and what he has done, then he will focus on the difficulties in his life, and finally he will emphasize his age, and then ask, "Can I switch to software testing now?" , One of the characteristics of the "Guide Post" is that in terms of content, the poster will emphasize how immature he is when he has just entered the software testing industry, and the final ending is basically "seeking guidance" and "seeking information".
Whether it's a "professional change party" or a "rookie gang", I think their doubts stem from their lack of understanding of software testing, but rather the IT industry that they don't understand. Because anyway, software testing is also part of the computer industry.
As an IT practitioner, I have this understanding of the IT industry: From the perspective of the general environment, practitioners in the IT industry will have relatively high quality themselves, the working environment will be relatively better, and the salary level will be relatively comparable. high level. However, what is special about the IT industry is that it is a fast-developing industry, with new technologies or technological products being born almost every day. Their careers are relatively not particularly long. This is also an industry that values facts. 80% of the positions in this industry are directly related to your technical level. The higher your technical level, the more you have the right to speak. For practitioners in the IT industry, practitioners need to have the ability and desire to learn independently (this is very important, because the speed of the development of the IT industry may require re-updating the existing knowledge system in two years), professional technical ability, perseverance , Endurance (persistence is used to overcome difficulties, endurance is used to deal with frequent work exchanges and overtime).
Compared with software R&D engineers, they have technical ability, self-learning ability, perseverance, and endurance, and they can basically mix well. But for software test engineers, in addition to the above, there will be more requirements. There are also: the "five hearts" we often say (carefulness, patience, concentration, responsibility, self-confidence), writing ability, language expression ability, strong heart, super endurance and so on. . . . . . To give an example that may not be appropriate: Two people, A and B, practiced martial arts since childhood. Later, A went to a community to work as a security guard, and B went to the special forces. After three years, only one person can be the bodyguard of the boss. It must be a better starting point for B. High, and it is easier to achieve this goal. If A wants to stay, he has to do far more than B.
So when you consider switching to software testing or want to engage in software testing, you should not only consider whether I am suitable for "software testing", but also how to do "software testing". It is whether I am suitable for the IT industry, do I really know the IT industry, and do I have a strong will to work in the IT industry? An endless cycle of being criticized - "complaining - "not improving -" being criticized. My personal view of work is that you either find an industry you love and devote yourself to it, or you fall in love with the industry you do and then devote yourself to it. How well you can work depends entirely on your grasp of the future. The IT industry is a The same is true for traditional industries. If you only want comfort and stability, then you will be the same in any industry. You will not be able to become the top, and you will be destined to be eliminated.
I also want to be fully mentally prepared to enter the IT industry and decide to pass software testing as a career entry to share: software testing is also an IT industry, so the knowledge system required is similar to R&D, and R&D understands things , you also understand, maybe not as deep as them, but also understand. Many people want to ask, then what should I study? In fact, I think computer science is a system. Its particularity is that you can directly increase your salary by 1,000 yuan if you learn A technology. The real situation is that if you learn A, you may find that it seems that B has learned a little from you. Relationship, you will understand B, you will find that I have to learn C as well, when you learn ABC, maybe the salary level will increase by 500 yuan, and then you will find out, I should also learn D After learning, this time you will know ABCD, and your salary may increase by 1,500 yuan. The important thing is not to struggle with what to learn, but to choose a starting point and then extend it around.
The way to learn is, don’t just look at the materials, do it yourself, stick to it, don’t always struggle with which materials are good and which ones are not good, ten thousand people have ten thousand Hamlets, and only after you experience it yourself can you be qualified to feel it. Good or bad, don't complain, don't always envy others, and insist on learning and improving yourself. There is no quick job in the IT industry, and it takes time to accumulate.
If you really think about it and make up your mind to enter the IT industry, then software testing can be used as a lower entry point to let you enter this industry, but if you want to survive in this industry, you have to pay more. If you enter, please insist on strict requirements and don’t let it go, because the more people you have, the lower the standards of the software testing profession will be. If 70% of software testing engineers don’t like this industry, and just get by, then software testing will Always be inferior.
Software testing can be an entrance, but it is definitely not synonymous with simple work, low pressure, and high salary. We welcome you who really want to challenge yourself, and you who have clear goals will fight side by side with us.